A/C compressor cycling

[JRTJH]

stolly,

First you need to understand how the air conditioner works, then make the determination about whether it's normal or if something is wrong.

First, if it is a Dometic/Air Excel/Coleman and you have the thermostat fan switch on High or Low, the fan will run continuously and the compressor will start/stop as cooling is needed. The fan continues to run, providing air circulation at the registers.

If the thermostat is in AUTO, the system responds entirely differently.

When the thermostat set temperature is reached, the compressor will start, followed momentarily by the fan (HI) and the system will operate until the thermostat temperature is within 4F of the set temperature at which time the fan will stop (compressor continues to run) and the fan will switch to LOW speed. Once the temperature is reached, the compressor will stop, fan will continue for about 1 minute, to blow all the cool air out of the ductwork. If, by chance, once the fan switches to LOW, the temperature sensed by the thermostat rises, the fan will stop (compressor continues to run) and switch back to HIGH and continue to run on HIGH until the thermostat again reaches within 4F of the thermostat setting.

It sounds complicated, but you need to pay attention to what "starts and stops" on your A/C before you report that it's not working properly. There is an excellent description in the thermostat manual that describes how it all works.

I'm not suggesting that you're wrong and your system is normal, but rather that you may be facing normal operation without realizing it. From what you've posted, it's difficult to determine the status of your system.